The Difficult Goodbye
by eighteen inches
Summary: It's hard to walk out on your family and everything you know, but sometimes, it has to be done.


The Difficult Goodbye

It was between midnight and one in the morning on September 1, 1971. The moon shined brightly through the window and washed over the room, casting a glow on the furniture.

Eighteen year old Andromeda Black was sitting at her desk, quickly writing a letter to her younger sister, explaining everything she possibly could in the short amount of time she thought she had. Folding it up and placing it in an envelope, she laid it on the table.

She stood up when she was finished with that, and started to make her way around her room. She didn't care what she grabbed; she just picked up whatever her hand came in contact with and tossed it into her opened suitcase. She hoped she could be out of there as quickly and as silently as she could. She didn't want to wake anyone up.

_It's not going to go well if I do wake someone up, _she thought as she continued to throw her clothes into a suitcase. After a while she stopped herself, realizing something. _I am a witch, aren't I?_

Perhaps it was because it was late and she was tired, but she walked over to her bedside table, picked up her wand and waved it. Soon everything she own forced its way into her suitcase and she slipped her wand into her pocket.

She grabbed the envelope and zipped up her suitcase and pulled it behind her as she walked to the door. When she stepped into the hall, she took one last look at her childhood bedroom before closing the door behind her.

On the way down the stairs, she stopped before the last landing, knelt down and slipped the letter under Narcissa's door. Her footsteps echoed along the silent corridor as she continued down the steps, knowing that this would probably be the last chance she would have at communicating with her sister.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice, filled with venom, asked as Andromeda stepped off the staircase and started towards the door with her suitcase.

Andromeda closed her eyes for a moment, before turning around to face the source of the voice. She shielded her eyes from the glow of their wand. "Leaving is the only choice I have," she said.

Bellatrix sneered at her. "You're leaving to go see that _Mudblood_, aren't you?" she spat the word.

"His. Name. Is. _Ted,_ Bella," Andromeda retorted, leaving a space between each word.

Bellatrix laughed. "It doesn't matter what his name is; he's still a disgrace to blood purity." Bellatrix walked closer to her sister. "You're a Black, you're supposed to see and believe that, Andromeda."

"Just because I'm a Black,_ doesn't_ mean I should be forced to believe in the same pathetic views you all do, _Bellatrix,_" Andromeda said firmly, feeling the hatred rising inside her.

"Our views are pathetic?" Bellatrix scoffed. "What happened to you?" she murmured, after a while.

Andromeda thought Bellatrix hadn't meant for her to hear that, so she didn't respond. Instead, she just looked at her sister, not knowing what to believe. The two sisters stood there, glaring at one another for a few moments before one of them decided to break the silence.

"_Fine,_" Bellatrix spat the word. "Go if you must. Run off to that pathetic little Mudblood you so desperately cling to as an escape from the only world you know."

"Alright," Andromeda spoke, slowly stepping backwards towards the door.

"But just know this," Bellatrix began. "If you walk out that door, you walk out on your family. If you do that, you're no sister of mine."

Andromeda could feel every ounce of hatred and venom in each one of Bellatrix's words. She closed her eyes for a moment. "Fine," she said, opening her eyes. "If that's the way you feel…I guess we're no longer sisters."

_Not that our relationship has even been anywhere near sisterly for a while now, _she added silently.

"You've changed," she then went on, finding her voice and speaking louder. "You're not the Bella I thought I knew. Not since you went and got that dumb mark and got engaged to that awful Lestrange."

"_I've_ changed?" Bellatrix snorted. "Looks like you should be looking in a mirror, _sis."_ Andromeda could hear the sarcasm in her voice. "I'm doing what's right. If you knew any better, you'd join the Death Eaters too. They're going to be the winning side."

"I'll take my chances," Andromeda told her. "Besides, you're wrong about who will win, Bella."

Bellatrix scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"The side that is willing to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones will be victorious, because they're fighting for what they care about – not for power," Andromeda said, grabbing her suitcase and gripping the door handle. "Goodbye," she added, opening the door.

Bellatrix shook her head. "Go on and walk out on everything you know. See if I care. But know this, from now on, we're on opposite sides."

Andromeda walked out without another look behind her, leaving Bellatrix to glare in her wake. Once outside, she let her anger get the better of her and she slammed the door.

For a spilt moment she leaned back against the door, closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.

_Well, you did it, _she told herself, letting her arms fall. _You left...hopefully that was as worse as its going to get…_

She walked down the porch steps with her suitcase. When her feet hit the pavement she didn't stop until she was halfway in the street. She took a breath and turned around. She took in her childhood home one last time, knowing that in a few hours time, Narcissa would be waking up to start her sixth year at Hogwarts.

_Goodbye Cissy, _she thought. _I'm sorry for leaving you behind, but I have to go, it's the way things have to be._

Andromeda hoped Narcissa got to that letter before Bellatrix did. She knew that if Bellatrix got a hold of it; she'd tear it up and come up with her own scheme of why Andromeda decided to leave them. Not that the letter would stop her from doing so, anyway.

She also hoped that Narcissa wouldn't believe Bellatrix's side of things. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, she could try to have some type of relationship with her younger sister – even if it was pitiful.

"I guess this is finally goodbye," Andromeda spoke into the wind, finding closure with the life she was running from so she could start the life she was running to.

She closed her eyes for a few moments to make sure she had the house clearly in her mind. Getting a good grip on her suitcase, she turned on the spot.

She left the Black family home in a blur and appeared on a muggle street on the other side of Britain. She glanced up at the house and hoped that Ted or his parents wouldn't mind getting woken up in the middle of the night as she walked to the front door.

She took a breath and knocked, sealing her fate for the future.

* * *

AN: This was written for the 'Honeydukes Competition' for Fudge Flies and the 'Diagon Alley Challenge' for Second Hand Shop.

I've always wondered what happened between Andromeda and Bellatrix when she left and so I decided to write it. As for the date, I kind of estimated about what year Narcissa would be starting her sixth year and I think I'm about right.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you leave a review telling me what you thought about it. :)

Disclaimer: I'm not Joanne Rowling, so I don't own anything.


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